My team (Seaton) played Underbank in last years challenge cup and they were a very good team, the perception in Cumbria is Kells will romp Division three but with Woolston, Underbank, Pilkington Recs in there its going to be a competitive division

Kells, Blackbrook and Pilks the front runners for me. Plenty of quality in league tho

I don't think they all went ahead as planned! Don't think peterlee planned a 100+ tonking? Plenty of other massive one sided scores! Standards in the flag ship comp slipping, peter lee won't be the only side not to see the season out! St cuthberts second string beat Coventry! Obviously only allowing quality sides to enter ncl eh peter?

Div 3 has a wide standard of playing ability because of the number of teams who have joined simultaneously

Peterlee will also find it easier to play at home and will have gone into this season with eyes wide open

Also Coventry's performance is credit to them irrespective of whether it was a full 1st team or not

There was also a couple of walkovers in the BARLA National cup and four out of five games in the North West Counties were forfeited also the solution lies with the professional game and not the playing season Taxi Egg

We have no control over the Pro game but the change in playing season as had an adverse effect on both Summer and Winter programs , we had strength and stability in the traditional season which just needed a bit of common sense and trialing a short winter break , but no we allow the RFL to manipulate the weakness in Barla and in my opinion is now having a damaging detrimental effect on the game as a whole .

I am not against Summer rugby we have the calender to still play in the same months its the start and finish where we have in my opinion got it wrong and what cant speak cant lie .

We have no control over the Pro game but the change in playing season as had an adverse effect on both Summer and Winter programs , we had strength and stability in the traditional season which just needed a bit of common sense and trialing a short winter break , but no we allow the RFL to manipulate the weakness in Barla and in my opinion is now having a damaging detrimental effect on the game as a whole .

I am not against Summer rugby we have the calender to still play in the same months its the start and finish where we have in my opinion got it wrong and what cant speak cant lie .

You can tell from your posts that you are a balanced reasonable guy who only wants whats best for the whole game so I didnt take your initial post as being anti summer I just personally believe that the problem goes much deeper than the season in which we play Im with you that maybe an earlier season start to accomodate a winter break would have been a wise move but its to late to think that reverting back will solve the falling player numbers without rectifying other areas aswell

Cuthberts second Team didnt play Westbank called the game off on a Friday

Excellant game yesterday,Decent side Coventry who will cause one or two shocks this season,Mainly a Student based team with 4 Aussiesamong them,Cuthberts about 4 players short of being Full strength,But the lads who stepped up all played the part.

Cuthberts second Team didnt play Westbank called the game off on a Friday

Excellant game yesterday,Decent side Coventry who will cause one or two shocks this season,Mainly a Student based team with 4 Aussiesamong them,Cuthberts about 4 players short of being Full strength,But the lads who stepped up all played the part.

So it wasnt an A team that Cuthberts fielded and Coventry are a useful team and will be even harder to beat when they are at home. One shot will be landing a journalists job with the sun at this rate!

Double standards spring to mind as NCL clubs fail to adhere to minimum criteria to actually run 2 teams throughout a full season (as several failed to do in 2012) I presume the offending sides will be dealt with severely by the NCL management committee - or maybe not!

So don't you think it's a problem when NCL clubs can't urn two teams out on the first weekend of a new season? I do when regional clubs in the cold wet dark winter months have managed (before you look it up our 2nds failed just the once when the first teams fixture took priority due to injuries.( And we are situated in the middle of nowhere in what could be deemed a development area if it wasn't for us being formed in 1976 during the BARLA boom years)

Edited by Marauder, 03 March 2013 - 06:31 PM.

Carlsberg don't do Soldiers, but if they did, they would probably be Brits.

Double standards spring to mind as NCL clubs fail to adhere to minimum criteria to actually run 2 teams throughout a full season (as several failed to do in 2012) I presume the offending sides will be dealt with severely by the NCL management committee - or maybe not!

Not double standards just firms up the reason why some clubs applications failed when they applied for membership to the NCL with not having a structure in place for player to progess through from their junior/youth setup. All clubs have periods in time when they have lean times with their 2nd teams the reason the NCL state that you have a 2nd team is so that you have enough players on your register to fulfill all your NCL fixtures if you only have one team it is very hard to say keep 30 players happy. some 2nd team games will no doubt be called off when players get injured and are unavailable. If a player in the first team gets injured its the 2nd team that suffers so if 2 players get injured in the first team 2 get injured for the 2nd team that means that the following week the 2nd team are 4 players down dont need to be a genius to see it will cause some difficulties for clubs and as the season goes on it usually gets worse. Maybe some clubs don't let their under 18s play for their 2nd team, I know at our club a few years ago the under 18s coach would not allow them to play for the 1st or 2nd team. The then newly elected committee changed this rule and made it the players choice If he wanted to play he could. which has worked for our club in both that we have not called off a 2nd team fixture in the last 5 seasons and our player retention from our youth has increased. Player Numbers does seem to be a problem at the moment at a lot of clubs both summer and winter and yes I do think the switch to summer has not helped due to pro clubs taking players for scholarships under 20s etc at the same time these players are needed by their junior clubs. hopefully this will change in time but i would not hold my breath.

Double standards spring to mind as NCL clubs fail to adhere to minimum criteria to actually run 2 teams throughout a full season (as several failed to do in 2012) I presume the offending sides will be dealt with severely by the NCL management committee - or maybe not!

Looking at the bigger picture three Nw Ncl reserves teams failed to raise teams yesterday time to take the blinkers off !!!!!!!!!!

The bigger picture you are painting is the same which ever season the game is played. NCL 'A' teams always lose players to the first team whether through injury, suspension or personal reasons. The minimum criteria is met by running the A team, there is no penalty from the NCL if a second team cannot fulfil a fixture. (There may be from their playing league but I haven't checked.).

I enjoyed Miners v Siddal yesterday but I would love it if the NCL returned to winter because it suits me personally, but sadly Marauder, you and your fellow whingers are doing your cause harm by your continual sniping at the NCL. I won't be long before you lot are talking to yourselves on here.

The game as major problems some of us actually want to try and plug the dam , by actively going to countless bloody meetings listening to people who advocate re inventing the wheel , what you cant deny Mr B is that the game needs stabilty and not all these constant knee jerk changes in policy ,we the amatuer game are suffering as a direct result of the mis management of the game .

As I said above, I would love it if the game returned to winter next season but wouldn't that be a knee-jerk reaction? The current malaise in the game can't be laid totally at summer's door neither can the NCL be blamed for all the problems.
The RFL are completely unfit for purpose in the Pro & Semi-Pro levels of the game, the effects of which filter all the way down to Junior level. Most people realise this but some only come on here to continually blame the NCL and persist in preaching doom and gloom which has become repetitive and tiresome. Some regular posters have gone and others will soon follow. .